


Arcade

by Blue_Hood



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Black Panther (2018), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), X-Men (Movieverse)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Headcanon, Mutant Politics, Mutant Rights, Mutants
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-06
Updated: 2019-09-06
Packaged: 2020-10-04 03:13:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20464085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blue_Hood/pseuds/Blue_Hood
Summary: A group of teen X-Men in training start a revolution under another mutant's name, what happens when said mutant turns out to be not as dead as everyone thought?





	Arcade

Professor X is too much talk, Magneto too much action, they decided. Digging up files on mutant murders- assassinations- and seeing how many went unsolved, either due to the fact that authorities chose not to investigate or they did investigate until they realized the victim was a mutant. The statistics were astounding and showed no sign of stopping. They knew that this happened, enough police commissioners, chiefs and sheriffs had publicly congratulated officers and detectives on successfully shooting mutants. The world was clearly against them but what was trying to use war or reason against registration, what was that doing to help the daily death count from rising? Nothing.

One case was of particular interest, a teenager with no name except Arcade, shot by a sniper while walking down the street. The photo they found was particularly gruesome as they could tell his hair was the same color as his blood. The file was on the shooting, reporting the execution successful. It was a clean kill, ordered because Arcade showed signs of being a technopath before technology had really evolved, in an age of arcades. The teens, four to begin with, decided he was the perfect rallying point. They met in public places, talking shit about how fucked up the world was for mutants and realizing how fucked up it'd always been. Among their many conclusions was this- discrimination has never lessened, only changed. They were joking when they agreed to do something.

One of them, the girl who can ghost through walls, found the files and shared them with her friends. When she found Arcade's, she had no idea of the hornets' nest she'd just stumbled on. The discovery of his file led to an even more disturbing discovery, one of a Nazi invasion that, like discrimination, has only changed over the decades. Arcade's murderer was a HYDRA agent. In using his tragedy as a rallying point, they made his killers believe he was not truly dead.

Another of the four friends, this one a boy with a keen mind from a broken past, wrote a script for their Arcade. Bringing it with him, he made the first leap towards the revolution. Passing his work around his table of friends, getting their approval, their Arcade was born as the Ghost copied the words off the page and posted them on a new site, one of their making managed by the Ghost.

Over time their touch point became a hope spot. New pages were added, the Ghost tethering more and more parts of the internet to them. Each page had its own name, bearing links to the people who would use them most. With further reach, their influence became strong. She listened to those who found them and guided more to them. Anyone could post, could find support through them. Ghost learned to code a translation algorithm, embedding it in the posting feature so that the language one posted in was the language all text appeared in. A clear disclaimer was placed at the top of many chat rooms, warning that all posts were translated for readers’ convenience, because what sounds supportive in one language may be extremely offensive in another. They, unknowingly, united mutants and humans on a platform so anonymous that they hadn’t realized how far their reach was.

The second girl in their group of friends, a rogue in her own right, came up with the idea to use their new name for more than talking shit. She asked the Ghost how many languages their site could translate, using the answer to illustrate her point that they had the world’s attention. The problem was, how could they maintain anonymity and equality while placing themselves above their people? Frustrated, the rogue nearly yelled at them that their work was already a symbol, they needed to control it before it could be perverted. The question of anonymity remained, how could they place themselves above without losing that? The keen boy suggested, in a joking tone, that they could use helium to make a voice for their avatar.

The last of the four friends, four founders, who had been the most wary from the beginning, was a straight-laced boy from a seemingly perfectly normal home, the ideal. He latched onto the idea, saying they could record one of them with the helium voice and use it to modulate their future posts, asking the Ghost if that would be possible. She agreed they could do that but said they needed to save up an emergency fund if they were going all in. The ideal asked his friends if they were sure, as he always did when they were about to cross a line. The answer was unanimous, as it often was. This was happening.

In saving up an emergency fund to replace equipment they may have to ditch once they made Arcade stand out, the four were discovered by the ghost girl’s crush. Even as they saved, Arcade had to maintain a presence. Between inspirational, carefully written posts, the Ghost continued to study computer science to better protect their anonymity. As always, she did not buy the books but instead, she spent hours on end studying at the library, taking only a few books home to avoid arousing suspicion. Her crush, who was too shy to admit his own feelings, joined her at the library one day and discovered her making plans for Arcade. Hearing him ask about the name, clueless as he was to her other life, she jumped. The giant of a boy stopped her papers from flying everywhere. She quickly lied and said Arcade was a video game she was working on before asking him to make sure no one startles her like that. Joining her, he asked about the video game. She truthfully told him how the clever boy mentioned that the crap mutants go through would be considered unrealistic in a work of fiction. He accepted that, inferring she decided to make the video game to prove the point.

At their next meeting, they discussed what issues Arcade would get involved in. The Ghost shared her encounter with her crush, making sure they knew what lies she told. The author suggested they needed a way for people to rise through the ranks if they wanted Arcade to mean something. He was met by opposition, rising through the ranks sounded like they were building an army. He argued they were not building an army but they did have followers. If Arcade was to be a symbol then they needed followers to believe he was real. If no one ever met Arcade then they would lose that belief. The ideal countered him by following that train of thought, if they started sharing their secret then they would run the risk of exposing the truth that he is not real. The Ghost argued that as long as they controlled the symbol then they could control the exposure. The rogue agreed, they could create a system to control knowledge of Arcade without diminishing his reach. The ideal considered their point, many decisions had to be unanimous, and he agreed while standing by his point that a pattern could easily form as more people learned the truth. However another source of income for the emergency fund wouldn’t hurt. Rogue encouraged Ghost to ask her crush out, if nothing else then she could use the date to begin to bring him into the fold.

The giant was the first true agent of Arcade, though the four founders would pretend to be agents to protect the anonymity of their creation. His missions were simple as they were designed and created in what would become known as the early days. For the four friends, those days were over the moment they stopped talking shit and started being a symbol. His inclusion grew Arcade’s power, many of their classmates began working on the site that started it all. They guided the lost which enabled Arcade to post less, risk exposure less. The giant suggested that they seek support from their followers.

In hindsight, the four felt stupid for not thinking of that ahead of time. While the posts were anonymous by design, that did not mean all of their followers maintained their own anonymity. They reached out to a group, an underground, that subscribed to their work and was proudly based in New York. This underground gave them their first base, an abandoned subway station that was fitted with generators. The five seniormost agents of Arcade thanked the underground for sharing their space to help spread the message. The underground itself was part of a network that pooled resources, most of the network followed Arcade’s teachings and were proud to be his sponsors.

With funds for equipment and a base, though the anonymity likely would not last, they set to work. The first things they purchased were a microphone, bluetooth headphones, and a helium balloon. Sitting in an alley, Ghost recorded the good boy reciting the phonetic alphabet and laughing. None of the founders could forget their namesake, the picture of a dead teen with hair as red as blood haunted them. Putting that to use, Arcade’s image was completed.

The amazing thing about being a terrorist to some and a revolutionary to others is the freedom from normal morality. The boy from a perfect home, the ideal, the good boy seemed to slowly be corrupted during the creation of their digital persona but outside their meetings, the only thing that seemed to change was how close he was to his girlfriend’s roommate.

As time wore on and the inner circle grew closer to each other outside meetings, the real change was hidden. Arcade saved a boy with a demonic appearance by exposing a hateful officer. They saved lives they did not know were at risk. The blue demon boy would eventually be one of their most trusted agents, though the division between them and those brought into the fold was clear yet accidental.

Their most daring rescue forced them to expose their secret to their teachers, the X-Men. The mission was actually two-in-one, as was the exposure. The ideal and Ghost confessed to their friends the truth of their childhoods. They were raised to be hunters before they became mutants and realized the monsters they were to hunt may also be mutants. The good boy said he would show them his scars if his mutation had not healed them. The reason for this reveal was the rescue mission, the good boy needed to save his brother from their parents. He promised to explain more but he could not let the suffering continue.

Thus they destroyed the hunters to save the next generation. The ideal did not seem so ideal and his reasons for wanting to keep their instructors in the dark became clear. His brother was angry at him for taking so long, enraged by the method used to free him. He was so close to being lost, to being exactly what their parents intended for both of them that the good boy was the only one who saw he was not quite there yet. He told his brother that their parents could not touch them and promised an explanation would come soon.

The other mission took precedence, the rescue that exposed Arcade’s secret. The good boy was the voice of Arcade, was the stone cold undefeated champion for the cause, also known as Jack Frost, one of two founders with many names. Frost put on bluetooth headphones while Ghost, the other founder with many names given by those hunting them, had a headset plugged into her laptop. Sat around a table, three of the four founders quickly initiated the mission. One impersonated the head of security, another the head scientists, both acting to prevent the mission from being interrupted. During the call, Ghost tapped into the system. Jimmy, one of two mutants being experimented on, had a limited range in which his powers disabled other mutants’ gifts. Obtaining that range, Ghost showed her partners before disabling security as their calls ended. Security was down but appeared to be working, in order to avoid tripping alarms.

With the facility’s staff confused as to who was supposed to be handling their mutant subjects, the real mission began. Blink, a mutant with the ability to create portals, would remain out of Jimmy’s range while the giant boy would travel via her portals to get both mutant subjects from the lab facility to the school. The clever boy would inform the others of their arrival while the giant hurried them down to the infirmary. Their plan depended on their ability to dupe both security and the scientists so that the disappearance would only be caught after the fact. As soon as the two mutants were clear, Ghost altered the security tapes to send the staff on a wild goose chase.

After the X-Men watched them work, they were able to explain themselves and find acceptance. Frost and his roommate, the clever boy, a dragon, were moved to a dorm with four beds. Jimmy and Frost’s brother, the angry boy, were their new roommates. The other mutant they rescued had the appearance of an angel, which caused confusion as to why anyone would want to fix someone with such a nice mutation. Had he looked like the boy they rescued from the hateful colonel or if he leeched off others like Rogue, that would make sense but angel wings? There was no reason to hate that. Unfortunately, the angel had been surrounded by such hate and his father was the one who put him there. He would most certainly need time to recover, to build up his self-esteem.

Arcade did not allow the X-Men to join their inner circle. While Cyclops seemed offended, Professor X understood. They started this movement to be the needed middle ground between the X-Men and Brotherhood. If they let one join, they’d have to let the other as well to protect that balance. The Professor offered Arcade their utmost support and they- he accepted. Seeing how they operate, how every word was carefully crafted and every precaution taken, how they voted every time they took things a step further to ensure they were all in agreement. “Today is the end of the world as we know it,” they’d said a few times as they exposed themselves for the sake of their rescue missions. Seeing Arcade in action was inspiring, he was everything the Professor hoped the X-Men could be.

With the Professor’s support, they were able to do more. The dragon was able to intern with a judge, who struggled to uphold justice for all, not just humans. He was taken before Judge Dawn Diaz after he and Frost ran into a burning building, rescuing many trapped inside, using their powers in the process. Though all witnesses said that he had helped, the first responders on scene only saw a mutant with fire powers and a burning building. His rights as an American citizen were trampled on until he reached Judge Diaz, who looked at the facts and berated the officers in question while throwing out the case. Doing so put her at risk, cops willing to ignore all witnesses to further their own hateful worldviews were not the sort to take such opposition lying down. Thus the dragon got himself an internship under Judge Diaz, his work amounted to that of a clerk and he was only allowed that much because he was from a gifted school.

The boy who looked like a blue demon was actually quite religious and dreamed of being a priest, though he knew how hateful the church can be towards someone who looks like him. His work with Arcade led him to a pastor who welcomed mutants to his congregation. Though not religious, the dragon joined his friend on his first visit to the church, encouraging him to speak with Father Franklin about his aspirations. Aside from that first visit, the four founders rarely joined him at church. Nonetheless, Father Franklin became a symbol of hope in his own right. Taking the teachings of Arcade and bringing them to his congregation, preaching the kind of equality that so many mutants dream of and mourning the fact that even their leaders, their symbols of hope have come to believe that war may be the answer. While many mutants find solace in his House of God, most churchgoers, including his followers, are human. Arcade had to be careful to keep his location a secret but that did not mean all of his inner circle had to take the same care. Blue_Demon mentioned Father Franklin on multiple parts of the site.

Both Judge Diaz and Father Franklin came to mourn the injustice that was life for mutants. When the dragon was harmed protecting the judge, he was taken to the hospital, only to be kicked out when he declared himself a mutant. While studying Arcade’s teachings, Father Franklin first felt unworthy of all Blue_Demon’s praise before he followed the thread and saw how many mutants could not visit houses of worship for the simple fact that they are mutants. Without knowing it, Diaz and Franklin became the human beacons of hope that Arcade had been hoping against hope for. Working within their respective systems, they fought for the mutant cause.

The judge’s hard work led to a task force that would investigate and review mutant cases, all of its members were selected from recommendations made by the judge. The preacher did his work on a more general level, he wanted mutants to have the freedom to practice any religion and that was no easy task. He began with charitable works, convincing shelters to take in mutants, soup kitchens and food pantries to serve mutants, asking his followers to support mutants’ right to work, to earn a living so that they may live. His name found itself on more than a few petition forms, protecting mutants' First Amendment rights to free assembly and speech. The most notable of these, a church lock-in following a park rally, had tragic consequences after he was arrested as Arcade.

As the threat of Thanos became public knowledge, Arcade was there as a guiding light. He promised to come out of hiding after the Battle For Earth (BFE). Armed with the knowledge of their hunter pasts, the alliance of Enhanced persons fighting for Earth decided that Ghost and Frost should be deployed first. Both had been trained to slaughter whole armies of monsters, the rest would follow in order of experience. Following the alien tyrant’s defeat, CIA Agent Everett Ross arrived in a convoy sent to meet Arcade. The inner circle, who fought as a Beta Team of X-Men, approached with various other combatants. Jack Frost, Iceman addressed Ross “Out of the shadows and into the light, sir.” The last word followed a pause that gave the convoy a chance to notice his white hair, a trademark of his Jack Frost persona achieved by coating his hair in frost.

Everett Ross grinned, “The time has come.” All the guns that had been pointed at Frost were turned on him and ignored as he moved to stand in the middle of the battlefield for the promised reveal. Earth’s defenders stood around the battlefield, surrounding him. A tablet tucked under his arm, he said “Wait for it.” Fighter jets flew overhead, only to be stopped by his power. “Alright, now that everyone’s here,” he tossed the tablet in front of him. The device smoothly glided through the air, coming to a stop with the camera pointed at him. Having been the government liaison to the Earth’s Enhanced defenders, he’d been able to read the speech prepared by the Beta Team for this reveal. As he delivered the speech aloud, he mentally extended the broadcast to preempt all news networks and auto-translate his words. The airmen and snipers sent to kill him heard his words the same way they received their orders. His speech preached freedom of choice and made passing references to the battle they’d just won, the fight for planetary freedom that had ended not five minutes prior. References to his son’s death, which is how he was still alive despite the sniper sent to kill him, had more emotions than any of his agents would have been able to fake, giving credibility to his claim that he is Arcade. In coming out of the shadows, Ross protected the teens who started a revolution in his name.

After his speech, the men sent to kill him were recalled and the convoy he arrived in abandoned him. He caught a ride with the X-Men and refused to tell them anything more than he’d told the world. When they arrived at base, New SHIELD Agent Barbara Morse rushed up to him, enveloping the older man in a desperate hug, surprising everyone except Lance Hunter. He was the only one who knew the connection between Everett and Bobbi. When all eyes turned on Hunter, he said “‘e’s ‘er pops.”

“He’s her father!”

“Yeah,” answered Hunter. “C’mon, enough of that. Everyone needs a doctor, luv.”

When a few defenders tried to pass, Ross made it an order. The medical team agreed that those without serious injuries could probably be pushed through. Arcade threatened to disable everyone’s phones if they didn’t behave for the doctors and go straight to bed after their check up, demonstrating with Tony Stark’s phone. The revelation that he was a father gave his words a more parental tone.

The next morning, Ross had breakfast with his daughter and former son-in-law at New SHIELD’s usual table. As he sat down, he whispered something in Hunter’s ear that made the other man’s eyes go wide. Wolverine repeated what he said and simply wore a knowing smirk. Bobbi was having none of her father’s antics, though she couldn’t really undo whatever he did. The teens who took up his name made a point of speaking to him as they passed the table. “This is my life now, isn’t it?” Everett asked after the sixth visitor.

“Probably,” agreed Bobbi. “Arcade is a revolutionary or a terrorist depending on who you ask. You just became the face of that.”

“Wait, so you’re not actually Arcade, like the current one?” asked Agent Johnson.

“I lost my wife and son close together. Instead of risking everything, I chose to protect what I had left.”

“Sending me to live with other family members and changing my last name so his work couldn’t hurt me,” added Bobbi. “Most wrote it off as grief, they didn’t know what he gave up.”

Hunter said “He insisted Bobs get a degree ‘stead of just following in ‘is footsteps.”

“To answer your question, I’m the original Arcade but no, I’m not the revolutionary terrorist.” Ross said, “I chose to reclaim my name to protect the kids who took it and made something great from it.”

“You quoted Fury’s one man speech in your coming out speech,” said Daisy.

“I stole most of that speech from the current Arcade.”

“Well, you’re famous now.”

“I doubt it’ll last, especially once people see I’m not what they want me to be.”


End file.
